Page 66 of Hard To Love

If there was one thing I had learned by now, it was that when Chase got determined, there was nothing that anyone could do to stop him. There was no point in fighting him.

Sympathy and confusion battled inside of me when I turned to my abandoned date. “Tim, I’m so sorry about tonight. I ruined our dinner. I…” Words failed me as I tried to finish my sentence.

He politely cut me off and handed me my sweater. “Look, there’s no need to apologize. You obviously have some unfinished business to take care of here.”

He gave me a sympathetic and reassuring smile. Like I said before, Tim was a nice guy.

Chase turned to me, “we need to get out of here and go someplace private so we can talk.”

Not waiting for a response, he reached for my hand, entwined our fingers then led me toward the door.

As we pulled away from the curb, I could see him tensely grip the steering wheel. I stared silently and watched as the twinkling lights of the city passed by without a sound. I had no idea where he was taking us and frankly, I didn’t care. All that mattered was that I was with him.

I wasn’t sure what to expect to happen after tonight but I knew that we still needed to talk through things. My head was telling me to stand my ground but my heart was telling me to not let him get away. For someone like me who always had a need to be in control,I was scared by how much power he still had over me. I knew this was going to be a problem the first time I ever stepped foot into this car with him. A smile spread across my face as my mind flipped back to that first night.

Those memories were in stark contrast to the man sitting next to me now. He looked tense and purpose driven. The light that usually shined in his eyes was gone. A small tear escaped out of the corner of my eye, what I have done to him? Or to us? And to what end?

I discreetly tried to wipe away the tears before Chase could see me, but I was too late. In spite of his outward appearance, he reached for my hand. He gently raised it towards his lips, placing a gentle kiss on the back and returned both our hands to his lap.

This gesture spoke a thousand words. His touch had such a calming effect on me. He somehow always seemed to know the right words and tone to use and anticipated what I needed. While we had only known each other for a few short months, this man knew me better than anyone.

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